


Father Figures

by missmysterious56



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, Immortal Husbands Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Immortal Warriors, Language, M/M, Nile is adopted by Joe and Nicky, Nile is hurt, Team as Family, Temporary Character Death, The Team is Family, The is mention of Copley and OFC's but they aren't vital to the story, aka a century, immortal warrior husbands, it's been 100 years, nile and her dads talk, no beta we die like men, the second part is heavy on diologue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:00:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25524004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missmysterious56/pseuds/missmysterious56
Summary: I know it's a bad title, but give it a chance.Nile had a father. Now, she has two dads. Even if they don't know that's how she sees them... until now.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Nile Freeman & Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani & Nicky | Nicolo di Genova
Comments: 53
Kudos: 520





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Just make sure you check the tags for any trigger warnings there might be!

A father is someone that is there, but you haven’t truly bonded with. Someone who you won’t necessarily go to when you are in pain. A father is someone who is there, but somehow still seems a million miles away. Or sometimes not there at all. A dad is someone who is always there. Someone you can lean on. Someone who loves you. Someone who will protect you with their life, or in this case lives. Someone who will make sure you always feel loved and cared for. Someone who loves you unconditionally. 

Nile used to have a father. Someone who loved her. Someone she knew would die for her, for their country. Yet, she never truly bonded with him, her memories of him are scattered at best. Now, more than a century after his death, she realizes while she loved him she didn’t know him that well. She knows he was in the military. She knows that he loved her, her brother, and their mother. She doesn’t know the more simple facts about him, like his favorite color. When she went to him in pain he would help until he got frustrated. Once he got frustrated he always handed her over to her mother with the words “I can’t deal with this. She needs to grow up.” She wasn’t able to bond with him through athletics before his death. One of the few things the two had in common. Even then, he was a star football player, she was an upcoming soccer player (even at her young age). He held strong hate towards the sport for some unknown reason and when he was home after a tour, he never went to her games. He was constantly away, at either a military base or on a tour.

Now… now, Nile has two dads. One she internally calls pops and the other dad. They don’t know that she looks up to them that way. Neither, Joe, her pops, or Nicky, her dad. Yet, they still treat her as she imagines they would a daughter. The two are constantly there for her. Letting her lean on them when she needs too. Sometimes, they even realize that something is bothering her far before she does. Offering comfort when she learns her brother and mother have passed. Making sure she is okay after a nightmare. Giving up their lives to make sure that she is safe during a mission, despite her having the same gift they hold. They gave her a room in each of their houses, let her decorate each how she sees fit. They cook her favorite meals and bake her favorite desserts when she is in a funk. They make sure she always feels loved. They can read her like an open book now. They are always there when she needs someone by her side. Always making sure she knows she is loved and cared for. Unconditionally. 

Nile is only reminded of this more when their small little family gets caught up in a sticky situation. It was supposed to be a quick mission. Get in, fill a drive with all harmful information that could begin another world war, get out. Copley’s daughter had ensured it. The same girl Copley had taken in not long after the situation with Merrick. He trained her, taught her the intricacies of the world. Stayed with her patiently when she woke up from horrible nightmares. Patiently explained the situation when the girl demanded answers about these people who never aged kept coming into their home. After Copley died the girl, now, woman, Enyo, took over along with her wife Alyssa. 

After about 50 years the missions and fighting have become routine. Hold position, wait for Andy’s signal, move in as a unit. If you need to fight. Fight. If you don’t leave it. Try to avoid as much contact with the enemy as possible. The less people who know about them the better. Nile internally curses to herself as she kicks someone’s leg out from under them. Quickly subduing them before moving on. They have to cover Book while he transfers the data onto the hard drive. Quyhn and Nile exchange a quick glance both silently cursing Andy for not letting them bring the big guns. Literally. She said no, because it was meant to be a stealth mission. So they only brought the bare minimum. The youngest of the team is brought out of her thoughts as her gun becomes blocked. A stupid malfunction that is bound to screw her over. Especially during a mission. The former Marine’s thoughts are only proven when a bullet tears through the muscle in her leg. 

“Fuck!” Nile exclaims, wincing in pain as a second bullet tears through the same leg. Without a second thought, the team covers her as she heals. The wound doesn’t take long to heal, but the two shots had hit a ligament and her knee cap making her unable to stand until she was healed. Nile grits her teeth in pain, a scream of pain makes her way out of her throat as a stray bullet finds her collar bone. The combined pain of bones and muscle repairing itself while a bullet making contact proves to be more painful than Nile would have ever thought. Nicky drops down to the ground beside her. Quyhn and Andy, quickly covering the two as more hostels approach. 

“You’re okay, piccolo guerriero,” Nicky says. The words calm her down more than the older immortal warrior could possibly know. Nile smiles softly at Nicky picking up her weapons once again, the two swords that she has gained mastery with. Each lightweight and strong enough to catch bullets with. Nicky has already stood and rejoined the fight, not wasting another second after being reassured that the girl was not hurt too severely. Not long after that the fight is over the last of the hostels eliminated and the hard drive secured.

“C’mon let’s get out of here,” Booker says, glancing around warily at the dead bodies lying motionless on the floor around them. He had spent a century away, true to his word and punishment. However, in the process, he fell out of practice with this sort of thing. He still trained, of course, but now he wasn’t as used to the motionless bodies littering the floor and the floor slick with the blood of their enemies. Not in the way he used to be anyway. Andy and Quyhn nod, the two women taking the lead. Stepping over the bodies with an air of ease. Ease that Nile learned soon after joining the group is false. Nile can remember once confronting Andy about it, to paraphrase the younger version of Nile called Andy a mindless killing machine that no longer cared she was ending lives. Soon, Nile realized Andy was just affected by these deaths as anyone else would be. She simply hides it better. No one in the group forgets that they have ended the lives of people who likely had families expecting them home later that night. In turn, they tried to not resort to killing unless they were attacked first. 

“Yeah, let’s go,” Andy says, easily taking the lead as they move to walk out of the building. Joe and Nicky walk next to her. Silently making sure that she is still okay. Ahead of them, Nile can catch sight of Quhyn making sure both her more… stubborn charges aren’t hiding any injuries. Nicky snorts in amusement when the trio catch sight of Andy wack Quhyn’s hands away before she look for any injuries that aren’t healing. 

“Well, that was an unexpected turn of events,” Joe jokes dryly. Nicky rolls his eyes lightly. Nile offers the older immortal a half-smile and is about to respond when she gets the distinct feeling that someone is watching her. The woman stops short, glancing around briefly. 

“You okay, Nile?” Nicky asks, his concern rising as the woman shakes her head. Her eyes look cloudy for a moment as if she isn’t aware of any of her surroundings. Nicky spares a glance with Joe, both their concern growing more when Nile shakes her head before stating she is fine. 

“If you’re sure,” Joe says, an air of uncertainty making its way into the gentle baritone voice. Nile nods, once more. The woman begins to feel bad for her actions, but at the moment she feels like she can’t think. Something isn’t right, but she just can’t figure out what it is yet.

“I promise, I’m fine. Can I have a minute? I need to think,” Nile explains. Nicky agrees that they will give the younger a minute to catch up to her thoughts. Joe looks as if he is about to protest, but Nicky shuts him down with a simple look. Joe turns on his heel walking out of the warehouse, grumbling in Arabic the whole time. 

“1 minute, that’s all I can promise. There’s no saying he won’t burst back in here and give you a lecture about family and trust,” Nicky says, a small disarming smile in place. Nile grins up at him acknowledging the truth of the statement. It wouldn’t be the first time that Joe had given her a lecture about something. Before he leaves, Nicky places a quick peck on top of her head. Nothing stops Nile from thinking ‘my father never did that’. Before she can dwell on the thought anymore there is a gun being cocked behind her. 

Nile freezes. No matter how many times it’s happened, there is a certain fear that comes with having a gun aimed at your back. She knows she’s too young for her abilities to stop working, and if they had she wouldn’t have healed from today’s earlier incidents. 

“Stand up,” The offender demands. Nile slowly stands her calloused hands that had previously been clutched in front of her slipping into her pocket to retrieve the small pocket knife. The immortal warrior slips it into her sleeve. “Hands up and turn around.”

Nile follows the instructions. Hands high in the air as she turns on her heel, the same way she was taught in the military. One foot behind the other about a length of one of her feet behind, then make a 180 turn. Her stance is secured feet separated so she won’t lose balance, but not far enough to make it seem as if she is ready for a fight at any moment. The man nods, gun trained, his hands shaking as he holds the gun. The man takes a second to look around assessing the area. Nile takes a few seconds of distraction to hurl the knife at the hostile. However, she misjudges just how sharp the enemies' reflexes are. The knife glides past the enemy, lodging itself in the crates behind him. Two shots are fired, and for the millionth time (not really, but it feels that way) Nile takes a bullet. Two shots. Just like how she was trained in the military. For a moment Nile allows her brain to drift to what life had been like before. She does not humor the thoughts for more than a second before she hears the sound of pounding feet and a distressed call of her name. 

The other five members of her family run into the room. Joe and Nicky in the lead. When they see her predicament five guns are instantly trained on the hostile with deadly accuracy. Nile can practically feel the man’s nerves growing. Quite honestly, if she was in his position she would be terrified too. Five people with guns trained on you? Scary. Five immortal warriors who have seen some shit pointing guns at you with accuracy few possess? Down right terrifying. 

“Drop the weapons, give me the drive, and I will let her go,” The man demands, one arm wrapped around her wrists, while the other holds a knife to her throat. Andy shakes her head. Nile can tell the woman is going to say something before she is interrupted. 

“Let her go, and maybe we won’t kill you!” Joe growls with barely contained rage. That’s the moment everything goes wrong. Joe takes half a step forward and the man behind her panics, slitting her throat and running. Nile falls to the floor, her eyes widened in shock from the development. Distantly, she can hear five shots being fired as she chokes on her blood and her vision gets more and more blurry. The last thing she can see before her world goes black is Joe and Nicky hovering above her. Her dad and her pops, each look both murderous and concerned. 

“Shit!” Booker exclaims, after catching sight of the younger warrior. The former marines head has almost been fully severed from her body. Booker is about to say something else when Andy elbows him. 

“Is she healing?” Quyhn questions, her voice full of concern. Nicky shakes his head. They each take in a sharp inhale, waiting for the former priest to elaborate. 

“I can’t tell. It takes longer if the head is almost torn off the body from what I can remember. I can’t tell,” Nicky explains, with frustration just at the edge of his voice. If one were to listen close enough, and knew the patient man well enough you could hear the hysteria that he tried so hard to hide. 

“She will heal!” Joe says, his voice rough. He is hiding his grief, biding his time until he explodes and releases. As he always does when any of them are hurt, more specifically, when Nicky and Nile are hurt. The group is silent for some time, waiting for Nile to come back to them.

“We need to get out of here,” Andy says, looking around. Quyhn and Booker both nod along. It has been ten minutes and there are finally signs of healing showing. It will be a slow process. A slow process they don’t have time for. Soon enough, authorities will be on scene, and they cannot, under any circumstances be there when they arrive. 

“Bu-”

“Joe, Andy is right. It’s not safe here. We need to go,” Nicky says, before Joe can argue his point. Joe recedes, he knows deep down that it isn’t safe here. Not for any of them. However, he doesn’t want to mess up the woman’s healing process. 

“Fine. Booker is driving though,” Joe says, an air of finality within his statement. Andy raises her hands in surrender. Out of all of them, other than Nile and Joe, Booker was probably the best driver. So, considering Nile is out of commission and there is no chance of Joe leaving her side for some time, it makes sense that the responsibility of driving would fall to Book. 

Joe nods, lifting the African-American into his arms. Andy throws the keys to the car to Booker, who catches them with ease. Behind the two are Nicky, Joe, and Nile. Nicky hovering behind Joe as the love of his life carries the girl they have come to think of as a daughter. Behind them, Quyhn takes the back making sure there are no threats that have to be taken care of. Quyhn lurches forward as Joe trips the exhaustion from the fight finally affecting him. 

“Do you want me to…” Booker begins, however his question quickly dies out at the sharp glares he receives. Instead, the man raises his head in a position to show surrender before jogging to their SUV. The family piles into the car in silence, moving together with complete ease. The car ride is not long, and by the time they return to the hotel they are staying in, Nile looks to be in a lot better shape. 

Joe and Nicky are sitting beside Nile’s bed in the suite they have been living in for the last week or so. The two haven’t left her side as all. Wisely, no one says anything to them about it, trusting that when they are ready they will shower and eat. Nile lets out a groan so loud it catches everyone’s attention. Booker, Quyhn, and Andy all enter the room one after another. While Nicky and Joe both hover above her head, smiling, happy that the woman will be okay. 

“Pops?” Nile groans, looking at Joe. Nile is starting to sit up when she realizes what she says and pauses. Around her everyone is frozen in shock. An apology is on the tip of her tongue, when Joe picks her up and swings her around. The immortal lets out an undignified squeak in shock. Nicky lets out a laugh, there are tears in his eyes. Joe has his hands wrapped around Nile’s waist as he spins her. When he puts her down he kisses her forehead and the family can see the happy tears in his eyes. 

“You owe me 5000,” Booker says, with a glance towards Andy. The woman relents with a curse and promises she will get him the money. Booker smirks before walking out of the room. Quyhn smiles slightly at the trio before exiting the room. 

“We might need some time,” Nicky says quietly, his eyes trained on the love of his life and their daughter. Andy nods, she had expected nothing less. She grabs his shoulder squeezing for a moment, before exiting the room, but not before she pushes Nicky towards the group hug. 


	2. The Conversation

They are on the road, Nicky and Joe in the front. Joe driving, of course. It has been silent since the trio had first left the motel they had been staying in with the team. Now, they are heading to one of Nick and Joe’s safe houses. If Nile can recall correctly it is in a town called Colmar. However, Nile has been distracted since she had accidentally called Joe “pops.” 

“So you aren’t angry?” Nile asks, her voice soft and unsure. Nicky whips around so quickly that Nile is sure that he would have gotten whiplash if not for their healing abilities. At the same time, Joe slams on the breaks and they travel a few more meters before the vehicle comes to a screeching halt. Around them, cars blare their horns as they swerve to avoid hitting the car. Nicky starts cursing at Joe in a multitude of languages but the other immortal pays no mind, instead turning to face the insecure woman. 

“Angry? Angry?! No, we are not angry. We are ecstatic. Nicky is my everything, he always has been and he always will be. Right until the very end, and even then nothing will be able to take away the love I hold for this man. Yet, something has always felt like it was missing. A missing puzzle piece if you will. That puzzle piece is a family. We are immortal, we can help people the best that we can and we always will. Nicky and I have taken in countless children who needed help and helped them gain footing before they went back into the world. Each of them were temporary fixes to the void in our hearts. If anything they made the void bigger after we lost them. We carry them with us in our hearts forever, and yet there was still something that was missing. Up until now,” Joe rants, his eyes soft as he gazes at Nile. Nicky looks between the two before rolling his eyes. 

“You lost her, Joe. What he is trying to say is, that you are that missing piece. You are the family we have been looking for. Someone who will be with us until we pass. A family we hadn’t been capable of having before and a family we thought we could ever have. The chances of finding another immortal? Slim. The chances of finding a younger immortal who will think of us as family? Slim to no chance. You are a blessing for the both of us. So, no we are not upset.”

“Oh… We should probably get out of the middle of the road,” Nile says, suddenly feeling much better about the entire situation, but still needing time to process everything that has happened. About halfway through the ride, Nile grew hungry. “Daaaddd, pooopppssss, can we pleasseeeee get food?”

What Nile was not expecting was Joe to swerve the car into a ditch hop out of the driver’s seat and swing her around in his arms. Nicky cursing Joe in Italian the entire time. 

“Give me the keys, Yusuf!” Nicky shouts, angry making his way out of the car. Joe stops spinning Nile in shock. 

“No!”

“No, dad! No driving for you!” Nile exclaims, taking the keys from Joe’s hand. “Last time you drove you nearly killed us all!”

“It was one time!”

“It was  _ not _ just one time!” Joe argues. 

The two bicker for a little while before they stop at a diner. Joe goes to the bathroom, leaving Nicky and Nile alone at the table. 

“Don’t do that again, Nile. I mean it,” Nicky says, his voice stiff and his eyes filled with worry. It takes Nile a moment to realize what the man is talking about. 

“I won’t, dad. I promise,” Nile says with a smile, watching as Nicky’s eyes light up slightly. 

“Good because if you do I can’t promise we won’t make you walk around in bubble wrap for your own protection,” Nicky comments, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he speaks. Nile can’t help the laugh that comes bubbling out of her. She hasn’t been happier in a while. 

She officially has a dad. Two of them. Two dads who will always have her back, that will always protect her and comfort her. Two dads she knows will never leave her willingly. 

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if you want a part two of them talking. This is my first The Old Guard fanfic, so I haven't quite captured their characters while writing yet. Anyway, let me know what you think! I will probably be posting more one-shots within the next couple of weeks.


End file.
